


Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars

by Lady_Ganesh



Category: RH Plus
Genre: Future Fic, IN SPACE!, M/M, Memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-03 07:39:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2843333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Ganesh/pseuds/Lady_Ganesh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Not too far from the surface of Mars, Kiyoi remembers...and looks forward.</p>
<p>(Yo, I heard you like vampires in space, so I gave you vampires in space.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Daegaer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daegaer/gifts).



"It's time to wake up," a voice told him in English.

Kiyoi opened his eyes. "Hypersleep," he said. "That's right."

"Kiyoi-san, you have to move quickly," Ageha said. "The monitors are--"

There was a trick to getting in and out of hypersleep without drawing attention when you were a vampire. Mostly it involved making small, helpful adjustments to the monitors, but the moments of waking could be...problematic. Vampires snapped out of hypersleep instantly, and humans...did not. The trick was to be in the second round of wakers, but pretend you were from the first round. Fortunately, in the chaos of vomit and disorientation, usually no one noticed.

Kiyoi got out of the chamber and did his best to pretend he'd been heartily sick for half an hour. It helped that vampires were always pale. It also helped that Michitaka was still early enough in his transformation that he still was heartily sick. Kiyoi rubbed his back.

"When are they going to open the viewing dome?" Ageha asked, looking up anxiously.

"They haven't woken up the third round," Makoto said gently. "They don't open the dome until everyone's stopped being sick, remember?"

"It could be hours," Kiyoi said. "Don't get too anxious."

"I'm not anxious," Ageha said. "I just want to see the stars. Don't you?"

"Of course," Kiyoi said. "But I know it will be well worth waiting for."

"I can't blame the kid," an older man said. He had really been in the first round, and had gotten his feet. "This is the kind of trip you only take once in a lifetime, you know? No trips back." For humans, it took too long, and the low gravity had too great a cost on their bones.

"Yes," Kiyoi said. "Once in a lifetime."

"It's so different, once you're out in space," Ageha said, and Michitaka put a hand on his arm to stop him from saying anything more. For everyone else on this flight, it really was a once in a lifetime trip. There was no reason to tell them otherwise.

"They say the VR is nothing like the real thing," the man said. "I can't wait."

They found a corner in the viewing gallery to wait in where they could talk in relative quiet. When the dome opened, it would fill with people--all three hundred passengers--but now it was generally limited to small groups. Ageha leaned against Makoto, both of them sitting against the wall like they were still teenagers. "Do you think it'll be nice on Mars?"

"Of course it will be," Makoto said, finding Ageha's hand and twining their fingers together. "It was nice on the moon, wasn't it? And Mars is warmer."

"I want to see how red it is, really," Ageha said.

"It was a long time, wasn't it," Michitaka said, still slightly disoriented. "Hypersleep. How long was it, in the end?"

"Ten months," Kiyoi said, "and thirteen days. A little longer than planned, but not too bad."

"No," Michitaka said. "I guess not. It was supposed to be nine months, wasn't it?"

"Close to that," Kiyoi said. "How are you doing?"

"I'm better," he said. "Thirsty."

"We'll be thirsty for a while yet," Kiyoi said. Hunting wasn't appropriate on-station, though sometimes Makoto could charm himself into the blood bank to give them a little snack. But some water might be good for Michitaka.

"They could open up the dome," Michitaka said. "That'd be nice."

"The third round is still pretty sick," Makoto said. "It'll be a little longer yet."

Kiyoi pushed his glasses up on his nose. Every trip, every time they went somewhere new, he told himself he'd finally lose the affectation, and every year, he decided he'd keep them for just a little longer. It was surprising how many people still used them, even now, but of course, not everyone could have surgery, and some people liked the way they looked. Michitaka always said he liked watching Kiyoi take them off.

And of course, he'd worn them for Ageha first, and Ageha was here still, though so much had changed. He still remembered those warm, warm fingers wrapping around his, as though he a child like him could find safety in someone so cold.

So much had changed since those early days. 

Michitaka rose, a little unsteadily, to his feet, resting a hand on Kiyoi's shoulder for balance. "That's better," he said. "I don't like that part."

"No one does," Makoto said. What a man he'd grown into. Still quiet, still thoughtful. But his power! Someday it would be enough to rival Kiyoi's. But not for a long time yet, and what he had was enough to save them trouble, already. Michitaka was still vulnerable, and would be for a while yet. It was Kiyoi's own fault for hesitating for so long, Kiyoi knew, for wanting to hold on to Michitaka's frail humanity as long as he could. But....

Douzan was there, somewhere back in his memories. Michitaka was his own man; Kiyoi was well aware of that. But the echoes remained.

It didn't seem so long ago. The bed had been warm, and Douzan had brought in a television just for the occasion. Had his hair been gray by then? It was hard to remember. In Kiyoi's memories, Douzan would be lithe and young, then be the man confined to his bed in the final days, then somewhere in between. Kiyoi had done his best to ignore his lover's long journey toward age, which had only complicated his recollections.

No matter his age on the day, it had been very much Douzan's young man's spirit that was present. "Can you imagine?" Douzan said. "The moon!"

"No," Kiyoi had said. "I can't." It had seemed so odd to him, Douzan's excitement. What did the moon matter? Kiyoi had been on Earth for a very long time and still hadn't come close to seeing it all. Neither had Douzan. But Douzan always wanted to go forward, push further, watch history change and the future approach.

"I wish it was in color," Douzan said.

"They say it's beautiful," Kiyoi said. "Especially when you look back at the Earth."

"I'd want to look out," Douzan said. "Can you imagine all the stars you could see from the Moon?"

They held hands as the astronauts walked out, floating slowly down, and Kiyoi's cynicism faded as their boots touched the surface. It looked very much like magic, watching those men bouncing along a dust-covered satellite.

Douzan squeezed his hand. "There's never been anything like it. Ever in the world."

"Out of the world," Kiyoi corrected.

Douzan laughed with delight. "Yes," he said. "Out of our world entirely. Kiyoi, we should go there."

"What, to the moon?"

"To the moon and back. Look at what they've done! I'm sure they'll send more people. In ten or twenty years, they'll probably be sending people up and down every day." Douzan's eyes were still glued to the flickering television. "You'll come with me, won't you?"

"Of course," Kiyoi said.

"I'll bring my son," he said. "And you. Perhaps we can charter a flight for all our friends."

Kiyoi slid an arm around Douzan's waist. He wasn't able to come to the manor as often, with Douzan's son growing so fast. Kiyoi hadn't minded back then. He'd thought they would have plenty of time. That was before he'd realized there would never, ever, be enough time.

"You have to promise," Douzan said. "You'll fly to the stars with me."

"I fly to the stars every time I'm with you."

Douzan laughed again. He had been so happy. "Really, Kiyoi. Promise me."

"I'd fly anywhere, if you were there with me," he said, honestly.

Now, he was on a ship, past even the moon. Douzan long gone, long buried, but some of his spirit, some of his life, still remained. And not just in Michitaka. The echoes he'd been looking for during his lost years were all around him, in the innocence Ageha managed to keep, in the sharp intelligence in Makoto's eyes. In the dreams they'd had, all those years ago, and the travels they took now.

"Good morning, everyone. This is your captain. Just want you to know that we're heading straight on to Mars, hoping to make up a little of the time we lost on the way. We'll be opening the observation dome in five minutes, so be sure to get into the main room and look to the skies."

"Oh, good," Michitaka said.

"I can't wait," Ageha agreed.

They both looked up, waiting.

Kiyoi glanced at Makoto. He was watching Ageha, and Kiyoi once again remembered the bed, the warmth, what it was to be with someone you loved so deeply. He put his arm around Michitaka and closed his eyes, waiting for the whirr of machinery.

_I'd fly anywhere, if you were there with me._


End file.
